Chainz/Grande 2020: We’re Not Dismissing It Outright

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Alfred Soto: The weakest track with a guest star on an album whose first thirty minutes have a becoming leanness. 2 Chainz may depend on the we-made-it trope that has ossified from truth to cliche, but he’s too good a record maker to cede a hook to Ariana Grande. 
[5]

Tobi Tella: 2 Chainz rides the beat amazingly, the Amerie interpolation is nice and smooth, and Ariana sounds much more at home on an R&B chorus then when she tries to rap in her own music. It’s not very interesting, but it accomplishes its goal.
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Joshua Minsoo Kim: 2 Chainz and Ariana Grande are capable of making a charming, low-key song that celebrates themselves, but this isn’t it — their performances strive for stately and enviable, but they read more as indifferent and readymade.
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Iris Xie: This is a surprisingly sleepy track for such a big sentiment about “rule the world” — maybe from their bed? It’s a little phoned in for both of them, and feels like a filler album track that is put out to dismiss any rumors of bad blood between them. It’s a nice example of a “sunset track” though; it’s all low and warm and unobtrusive, just when everything winds down.
[5]

Tim de Reuse: The beat is lush and twinkly and completely without character, the rap equivalent of muzak; Ariana Grande delivers the simplest possible material that would still qualify as an Ariana Grande feature. 2 Chainz is, at least, pretty fun to hear when he’s doing those extended, super-loose triplets that seem to only match up with the beat by coincidence.
[4]

Ramzi Awn: 2 Chainz is a natural, and Ariana sounds best in this pre-90s semi-freestyle gold, reveling in the land between Mariah Carey and Alicia Keys. The 70s aren’t lost and the mix is blurry, yielding to a devastating effect. The hooks don’t hurt.  
[8]

Ashley John: Compared to the rest of 2 Chainz’s new album, “Rule the World” is unremarkable, but by itself it manages to be a pretty little distillation of 2019. At worst it’s a skip when it’s among its peers on the rest of Rap or Go to the League and at best it’s a keystone of a radio remix on Ladies Night. 
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